These are very near his Words, wherein this is very Reflexions en worthy of Consideration, that the Emperor this Policy, Julian made Use of the same Receipt of Liixiitb regard berty of Conscience, to inflame the civil Disu the Liberty fenf]0nSj that our Kings have now done to sranted'ln extinguish them: So that it may be said, on Montaigne'/ one side, * That to give the People the Reins lime, to the <- to entertain every Man his own Opinion Protestants. < jstQ fcatter and sow Division, and, as it 'were, to lend a Hand to augment it, there being no 'Barrier nor Correction of Law to stop and hinder its

* Career •,' but, on the other side, a Man may also fay, 'That to give People the Reins to entertain every Man

* his own Opinion is to mollify and appease them by

* Facility and Toleration, and dulls the Point which is

* whetted and made sharper by Singularity, Novelty, and

* Difficulty.' And, I think, it is more for the Honour of the Devotion of our Kings, that, not having been able to do what they would, they have made a Shew of being willing to do what they could.

CHAP. XX.

That we Taste nothing Pure.

SO weak is our Condition, that Things cannot fall , into our Use in their natural Simplicity and Purity; fhereisno tne Elements that we enjoy, are changed, Convenient even Metals themselves; and Gold must be •without its In- debased, by some Alloy, to fit it for our convenient,. Servicej Neither has Virtue, so simple as that which Aristo, Pyrrbo, and also the Stoics have made the principal End of Life; nor the Cyrenaic and Aristippic Pleasure been useful to it without a Mixture. Of the 3 Pleasure

Surgit amari aliauid, quod in ipju -V^ ffJdefin"'

i. e. ~~:Van.

-■ , Something that's Bitter will arise, v:^s Ear

Even amidst our Jollities.

Our extremest Pleasure has some Air ox ... complaining in it: Would you not say, that it is dyin& of Anguish? Nay, when we forge the Image of rt, in its Excellency, we paint it with sickly and painful Epithets, Languor, Softness, Feebleness, B'aintness, Moriidezza, a great Testimony of their Consanguinity and Consubstantiality: Profound Joy has more of Severity than Gaiety in it: The extremest and fullest Contentment, more of the Sedate than of the Merry. "Ipsafalicitas, fe nisi temperate premit: ' Even Felicity, unless it moderate itself, 'oppresseth.' Pleasure preys upon us, according to the old Greek Verse ', which says, 'That the Gods fell us all 'the Good they give us •,' that is to fay, that they give us nothing Pure and Perfect, and which we do not purchase but at the Price of some Evil.

Labour and Pleasure, very unlike in Nature, associate, nevertheless, by I know not what natural p■ ,„,

/->•«.• t n r Tm r PamandP/ea

Conjunction. bocrates lays, * I hat lome sure joined at

* God tried to mix in one Mass, and to con- one End, Oj at*

* found Pain and Pleasure, but, not being f,ca"AomMe~ 1able to do it, he bethought him, at least, ancoy'

'to couple them by the Tail.' Metrodorus ! said, 'That

* in Sorrow there is some Mixture of Pleasure.' I know not, whether or no he intended any Thing else by that Saying: But, for my Part, I am of Opinion, that there is Design, Consent, and Complacency in giving a Man's

Self up to Melancholy; I say, that, besides Ambition, which may also have a Stroke in the Business, there is some Shadow of Delight and Delicacy, which smiles upon, and flatters us, even in the very Lap of Melancholy. Are there not some Complexions that feed upon it?

__— est quœdam flere voluptas m.

/. e. A certain kind of Pleasure 'tis to Weep.

And one Attains, in Seneca, fays, 'That the Memory of

* our deceased Friends is as grateful to us, as the Bitter« ness in the Wine, very old, is to the Palate n,

■ Minister vetulis puer Falerni Ingere mi calices amariores °.

i. e.

Thou, Boy, that fiU'st the old Fakrnian Wine, The bitt'rest pour into the Bowl that's mine.

« and as Apples that have a sweet Tartness.' Nature discovers this Confusion to us. Painters hold, 'That

* the fame Motions and Screwings of the Face that serve 'for Weeping, serve for Laughter too;' and, indeed, before the one or the other be finished, do but observe the Painter's Conduct, and you will be in Doubt to which of the two the Design does tend: And the Extremity of Laughter is mixed with Tears: Nullumsine autloramento malum est p.- 'No Evil is without its Compensation.'

When 1 imagine Man surrounded with all the ConveCcnfiant and nances that are to be desired, let us put the universal Plea- Cafe, that all his Members were always seized sure not to be with a Pleasure like that of Generation in its borne by Man. mostexcesllve Height; I fancy him melting under the Weight of his Delight, and fee him utterly unable to support-so Pure, so Continual,' and so Universal a Pleasure: Indeed he is- running away whilst he is there, and naturally makes Haste to escape, as from a Place

where

» Ovid. Trist. El, 3. v. 37. "Senec. Epist. 63. • Catul.

Epilt. 25. v. 1, 2. t Scnec Epist. 69. 3

•where he cannot stand firm, and where he is afraid of finking.

When I religiously confess myself, I find, that the best good Quality I have has in it some Tincture Moraj Gooi{ of Vice; and am afraid, that Plato, in his and Evil conpurest Virtue (I who am as sincere and per- funded in sect a Lover of him, and of the Virtues of Man' that Stamp, as any other whatever) if he laid his Ear close to himself, (and he did so) he would have heard some jarring Sound of human Mixture; but so obscure as only to be perceived by himself: Man is wholly and throughout but a patched and motly Composition.

Even the Laws of Justice themselves cannot subsist without some Mixture of Injustice: Info- <rhe justeft much that Plato says, 'They undertake to Laws have

It is likewise true, that for the Business of Life, and the Service of public Commerce, there may be some Excesses in the Purity and ^Xw/c/" Perspicacity of our Mind-, that penetrating more proper for Light has too much of Subtilty and Curiosi- Affairs than ty: It must be a little stupified and blunted, *"*£*• ^ to be rendered more obedient to Example and Practice; and a little veiled and obscured, to bear the better Proportion to this dark and terrestrial Life: And yet common and less speculative Souls are found to be more proper, and more successful in the Management of Affairs; and the elevated and exquisite Opinions of Philosophy are unfit for Business: This acute Vivacity of the Mind, and the supple and restless Volubility of ir^ disturb our Negociations: We are to manage human Enterprises more superficially and roughly, and leave a great Part to the Prerogatives of Fortune: It is not ne

H h 3 cessary

1 Tacit. Annal. lib. xiv.

cessary to examine Affairs with so much Subtlety, and so deeply: A Man loses himself in the Consideration of so many contrary Lustres, and various Forms. Volutantibus res inter fe pugnantes, obtorpuerant animi': 'Whilst they « considered ot Things so inconsistent in themselves, they « were astonished.' 'Tis what the Ancients fay of Simonides s, * That by reason his Imagination suggested to

* him, upon the Question King Hiero had put to him (to 'answer which, he had many Days to consider it) several

* witty and subtle Arguments, whilst he doubted which « was the most likely, he totally despaired of the Truth.' He that dives into, and in his Inquisition comprehends all Circumstances and Consequences, hinders his Choice: A little Engine, well handled, is sufficient for Executions of less or greater Weight and Moment: The best Managers are those who are least able to tell us why they are so; and the greatest Talkers, for the most part, do nothing to Purpose. I know one of this sort of Men, and a most excellent Manager in Theory, who has miserably let an hundred thousand Livres yearly Revenue flip through his Hands. I know another, who fays, that he is able to give better Advice than any of his Council; and there is not, in the World, a fairer Shew of a Soul, and of a good Understanding, than he has; nevertheless, when he comes to the TeiJ-, his Servants find him quite another Thing •, not to bring his Misfortune into the Account.

71C H A P. XXI. Against SLOTH.

THE Emperor Vespasian, being sick of the Disease whereof he died, did not, for all that, neglect to J 1 . D r inquire after the State of the Empire; and, ture a PHnct evenin Bed, continually dispatched very macught to die. ny Affairs of great Consequence; for which,